In the rush to subscribe to true-crime podcasts these days, we think it's something new, but what if I told you about The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club who has been digging around in old cases for over two hundred years? Today we are looking at this group of nosy, yet terribly smart, old ladies and three mysteries they solve. Our excerpt will be from the first book in the series, The Ghost and the Key, where they go after a murderer from 192 years ago.

With a pitchfork through the man's groin and another through his chest, it is clear that someone had murdered Chester H. Cranberry. It's not something that could have happened accidentally. But that was 192 years ago. As Mildred Cranberry, the current family matriarch, puts it, "We have two women, two keys, two pitchforks, and one dead two-timing man." Who in their right mind would want to dig up that cold case and try to solve it? It's not like the murderer could be prosecuted in 2024, right? But what if a key piece of evidence can be dug up (literally)? And what if a descendant of Chester's illegitimate child can get her hands on it? Mildred will need more than the Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club members to solve this bizarre case. The spiritual support she needs may not be what she expects when the ghost of Elcira Cranberry, the widow murderess herself, arrives to do what? Tell the truth or protect her reputation?

The Ladies Garden Club of Old Cranberry, Connecticut, has a 200-year history that has remained shrouded in secrecy for so long, it has been lost to history, until now. Elcira Cranberry and freedwoman Deborah Townsend knew the men of the town would have no interest in a garden club, so it was the perfect cover for their secret organization. Now, nearly two centuries later, the current members have no idea what those ladies were up to in the early 1800s, right here in Connecticut. But the secret will soon be out.

Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub

Music Credits:

Life

https://uppbeat.io/t/christopher-galovan/life

License code: 7HRZUO7SKSKFG1JX

Quiet Versus Silence

https://uppbeat.io/t/daniel-diaz/quiet-versus-silent

License code: 1XXZQET8VSWB0BOP

Books to the Ceiling is a part of Teresa Trent's Blog.

This week we're headed to New Orleans, 1831 to the St. Louis Cemetery #2. It's hot and smelly and we are with the character of Tobias Whitney who works there. Get ready for a creepy cemetery vibe, as Tobias discovers the secrets hidden among the dead.

In bustling, multicultural 1831 New Orleans, Tobias Whitney, the sexton of St. Louis Cemetery No. 2, uncovers a journal sealed inside the tomb of Dominique You—war hero of the Battle of New Orleans, privateer, and half-brother of the notorious pirate Jean Lafitte. Convinced that the journal holds the key to Lafitte’s lost treasure, Tobias turns to his sharp-witted and outspoken wife, Mary Catherine, to translate its cryptic French passages.

Tobias and Mary Catherine discover secrets they could not have imagined—secrets that could change their lives forever. But is it really the truth? As the journal warns, Never trust a pirate!

Lafitte Lives blends meticulous historical research with a page-turning mystery, bringing the legend of Jean Lafitte to life while telling the redemptive story of Tobias's grief and Mary Catherine's quest to help him overcome it.

Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads

Music Credits:

Mysteries

https://uppbeat.io/t/all-ambient/mysteries

License code: OATMAP4J25TCDQRP

Cold Prito

https://uppbeat.io/t/struktura/coldprito

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This week we travel back in time to go to a wedding, in 1965. Dot Morgan is getting married to the love of her life. Wedding preparations include cakes, flowers, music and murder. This is my fifth installment in the Swinging Sixties Series, but if you haven't read the first four, don't worry. Crying in the Chapel can be read as a standalone. So, grab your go-go boots and let's get that church.

It's August 1965, and Dot Morgan is finally getting married to the dashing reporter Ben Dalton. Her wedding day, August 14th, promises to be perfect—if only it didn't follow Friday the 13th. What could go wrong? Planning a wedding with the members of the Camden Chapel, Dot thinks she’s overwhelmed, but then it gets worse when a body is found on the church lawn. Dot decides to focus on her wedding to Ben, but when police reveal the victim didn't jump from the belfry he was pushed—she can no longer look away.

Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads

Music Credit

In Bloom

https://uppbeat.io/t/justin-lee/in-bloom

License code: KA73KM3FBUJ07XVN